Kesar Rasmalai

Last night I had a sudden demand for dessert from the boys sometime around 10.30 PM. All I had at hand was lots of milk. And Kesar (saffron).
Kesar: the spice of the Gods! I love the aroma, the hue, the strands-everything about it!

Made this Kesari Rasmalai flavoured and coloured solely with the richness of saffron- no cardamom, no pistachios, almonds or cashews,nothing. Pure Kesar Nirvana. The rasmalai discs are completely melt- in- the- mouth ♡

And all under thirty minutes!

Ingredients

For the gullas/flat cottage cheese discs
Milk- 1 litre (I used cow milk from the dairy, boiled and removed the cream and then made paneer like this. Semi-skimmed milk works best.
Lemon Juice- 2 tsp (add slowly till milk separates)

Sugar Syrup
Water – 2 cups
Sugar – ½ cup
(Since the gullas here are flat, they can be made in less sugar syrup compared to rasgullas)

For the Ras/Milk Syrup
Whole milk/full cream milk- 1 litre
Sugar- 4 Tbsp (or less/more as per preference)
Kesar- 1 tsp full (soak it in ¼ cup of warm milk (NOT HOT) and leave for 30 minutes)

Prepare the ras by boiling the whole milk for about 20 minutes till somewhat thickened. Add sugar and let cool.

Meanwhile make the gullas/rasmalai discs
Boil the semi –skimmed milk, add lemon juice slowly till the milk mass separates. Here is a pictorial on making paneer at home. Strain and wash the paneer thoroughly. Press it under a heavy weight for five minutes to get the whey out. The paneer that you get is crumbly in texture. This is the right kind of paneer to get good gullas.

Rub with palms till the fat/ghee/chiknayee is released and make discs.


Mix the water and sugar and bring to a boil and drop the discs in the sugar syrup. Cook covered for about 12-15 minutes.

To check if the discs are done, drop one in drinking water, if it sinks, it is done. If it is floating, boil for another couple of minutes.

Once done, remove the discs to clean drinking water which is at room temperature and let cool.

Assembling the Kesariya Rasmalai
The ras would have cooled from hot to warm now. Stir in the kesar. Squeeze the discs gently and drop into the ras.

Enjoy warm or chill for a few hours and indulge.